One Left to Go Chap 1
by P-bodyOrange
Summary: Everyone makes mistakes. Even GLaDOS. When she opens the wrong door, what will they find inside?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"BLUE! I said to shoot the portal over _there_ not _there_! You're gonna get us killed! What kind of idiot are you?!" Yelled P-body at Atlas. Atlas was used to this yelling, it was a habit that P-body had picked up several weeks ago. But she had never been this short tempered.

"OKAY! I'm sorry. I'll try harder next time." Blue mumbled under his breath, "But maybe it's not me…"

"Did you say something?" Orange snapped in an annoyed tone.

"Well, maybe it isn't me. Maybe… Maybe it's you." Blue said, instantly regretting it. He was terrified of what horrible thing Orange had in store for him, after saying a thing like that, Blue knew he would never again see the light of day. Verbally.

"I was actually considering giving you a second chance. An opportunity to redeem yourself." Atlas never heard her using these kind of words on a regular basis either. She was not that profound. She was more of a 'make-it-up-on-the-spot' type of person'.

A wave of static reached them. Both of them shoved their hands over their ears, trying to clamp the noise out. Finally the crackling subdued and a voice rang throughout the test chamber. "Break up the fight. You're wasting time. Training is over. Look on the bright side, you got a whole chamber farther than you did yesterday!" The voice chuckled softly, "Not that that's much of an improvement. I've seen smarter piles of garbage. You've just given me an idea, maybe I should test garbage piles instead of you. At least they would complete more test chambers than you. Gosh, now that I think about it, even plants would make better test subjects than you two!"

"YOU WANNA TRY THESE TESTS YOURSELF?!" Orange screamed at the loudspeaker.

"Did I catch her on a bad day, or is she always like this? Because if she is, maybe I should replace _her_ with a garbage pile, you can stay, Blue." The voice laughed at it's own joke. It's laugh was like an electronic version of a stream's burble.

Blue exhaled, long and hard. "She's only like this if you're unlucky enough to catch her on a bad day. Or should I say week…"

Orange just scoffed, "I never have bad days."

"So they always come in weeks?" The voice chuckled.

"No. I _never_ have bad days. Or weeks. Or months, if that's what you want to nag me about next. GLaDOS," She indicated towards the loudspeaker, "Thinks being annoying is the same as being funny. What do you think Atlas?" Blue was rarely ever called Atlas, especially by P-body. He didn't want to get on _anyone's_ bad side. So he tried to make it seem like he was indecisive.

"I have no strong opinions on this topic," He chose his vocabulary carefully, trying not to upset anyone, "I think both opinions are equally valid. And one is not better or more... valuable than another. However, both of you are correct, yet that makes both of you incorrect. Both sides have pros and cons-"

His speech was cut short by the irritated P-Body. "Look Mr. Fancy-talk. I don't have time for your little shenanigans, just pick a side already! I've had enough of your smart talk and don't want to hear anymore of your lecture!"

"Oh, so I'm the one using big words?!" Blue had had enough. Orange was officially crazy. And officially annoying. Talk about a royal pain. "You're acting like a queen, and a snobby queen at that! You think I'm a peasant who has to bow down to your every wish and ambition. I'm not gonna bend a single muscle in my back just to shine your shoes! YOU HEAR ME?!"

"I'll just leave the door open, you can make your way out when your… Um, done." GLaDOS had complete control over the facilities. She could have grabbed them with a robotic arm and thrown them into the incinerator if she felt like it.

They kept bickering minutes after she stopped talking. She could always listen in to every conversation they ever had, or assume that it was just a waste of time and turn them onto mute like she often did. She decided to let them continue to argue and just go about her business.

"I tell you every day: What to do and when to do it! What do you repay me with, MOCKERY?"

"I just wanted to complete this test chamber, but _Ms. Snooty-Pants_ won't participate!"

"I'm participating more than you are!"

Their voices trailed off, soon nothing but a dull lull, as GLaDOS drifted off into sleep mode.

Back in the test chamber P-Body and Atlas were still arguing strong as ever.

Eventually, GLaDOS woke up, and to no surprise, they were still bickering. Ugh. GLaDOS had no time for this, she needed to get them back to testing.

GLaDOS tested her subjects to their limit. She conducted horrible experiments on people and kept them locked away in chambers. Humans couldn't stand it. All they did was die, die, die. It was annoying. You could throw whatever you wanted at them, and they would live. But one thing in the wrong spot, and it was all over. Humans didn't last long. And sometimes, they were horrid, dangerous, ignorant, monsters. She definitely did not want to go through what happened with the last one again. It was too risky. That's why she tested robots and, in this case, cyborgs. They couldn't feel real pain, nor real pride.

The door had been wide open since GLaDOS left them, however nothing had passed through the threshold. She had been gone for almost an hour, when she noticed a warning sign flashing across the display from the camera footage.

"What's this?" She asked to herself, making sure it wasn't on the loudspeaker. She leaned forward in her seat, frowning at the sign.

She decided to ignore the warning like she often ignored P-Body and Atlas's heated conversations. She figured it wasn't important. It was probably just a warning telling her that a naughty turret decided it was a good idea to set off a firework in the break room. Sigh, those turrets were the most unpredictable little things.

The warning wasn't important so she set about terminating it along with the stupid turret. She decided to put her skills to better use, like breaking up Orange and Blue's fight for good. She went on the intercom, trying to get the system to make more static, just to annoy them. When the system has pumped out all the noise it had in it she started.

"Will. You. Stop. Bickering?!" She shouted over the intercom. "You stubborn, little idiots have been at this for HOURS!" She hissed. "Orange. Shut up. Blue. Get out of her way. Both of you, get onto the next chamber! Both of you won the argument, now just SHUT IT AND GO ON WITH YOUR LIVES!"

"Yeesh, is it her bad day too?" Blue snickered.

Orange surprisingly giggled, and GLaDOS shouted, "Yes it is, thanks to you two morons. Just. PLEASE. Continue testing. All you have to do is step through the open door. It's that simple. ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?! Do I need to bring up the garbage threat again?!"

They unwillingly stepped through the door, after many minutes of being prodded with insults from GLaDOS, only after which she got the same warning once again, only this time it was accompanied with a shriek much like that of a fire alarm. She was still on the intercom, so it wasn't just her who had to endure the pitiful sound of a burning building.

Atlas and P-body flinched, then stopped walking and attempted to muffle the sound with their hands, but to no prevail.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Orange screamed, nearly as loud as the alarm that just blared.

"Some turret decided to play a prank. By setting off a firework in the break room." GLaDOS wasn't sure though, seeing how the break room was the only place in the facilities where she didn't have security cameras in. She would need to check in person to be sure, yes. But things like that happened often enough she was quite confident with her presumption.

She turned off the intercom, disabled the alarm, and switched the loudspeaker back on. "Sorry that was so loud. I, um, should go check on that I guess."

The intercom went quiet, and silence drifted upon the unhappy partners once more. The silence was so overwhelming it was as though a thin veil of death had settled over everything within a one-hundred mile radius.

"You know," P-body said quietly, as they both walked up to the doorway. "I'm sorry. That was all me. I don't even know what I was arguing about most of the time…" She tilted her head and put her hand on the back of her neck. She laughed sort of softly, kind of a mix between a cough and a giggle.

"I guess you do win." She smiled as her cranky mood melted away from her circuit board.

Atlas was relieved that she was back to her normal self, no matter how it happened. "Let's go?"

P-body nodded. "Let's go."

They walked through the doorway. The room was musty and dark. The smell of it was revolting. Like that of rotting flesh.

"Hey! Where are you?" GLaDOS was back to the intercom. "I can't see either of you!"

They both walked back out of the room, even though they had only been in there for a few seconds, the experience was horrible and they acted as if they had never saw it. The warning still glinted over GLaDOS's screen, and even though she had disabled the alarm, it still flashed through her mind.

"We were just heading to the next test chamber. Like you told us to." P-body looked up at one of the cameras.

GLaDOS saw them walk into the room. "I see you two have made up a-" She saw the door they entered was rusted and sparking, little bits of metal chipped away here and there.

Why hadn't GLaDOS made the connection before? _I'm so stupid!_ She thought to herself, _there wasn't any turrets in the break room and I_ knew _that doorway didn't seem like the correct one! I should have realized sooner! That door didn't lead out of the chamber, it lead into the room with-_ Her thoughts were disrupted by the pause in the soft 'pitter patter' coming from the test chamber. Her mind was frantically racing, what should she do? She had to do something! Maybe they hadn't seen anything? In that case she couldn't spare having them see it again! All she could do was yell.

"No! Stop! Get out!" She shouted in attempts to stop them. "That's not the right door!" She opened the exit door on the ledge, and then raised panels to create stairs. "Look! Exit! Real one! Right there!" It was pointless. They weren't listening to a word she said. Those stupid cyborgs! Getting desperate she tried to close the door. Maybe it could still open and close despite its age? She jammed her finger on the close button, over and over and over. But the door's age had taken a toll on it, it no longer would open and close. Why couldn't it just have spared her one more bit of motion?

"Do you smell that too?" Blue questioned in a zombie-like manner.

"Urgh, yes… It is awful!" P-body mumbled, clamping her nose. Blue followed suit.

"I don't know why GLaDOS has a room that smells like this," She made a circular motion with her hand indicating the darkness that encompassed them, "But she can't have a good reason for it. If she does I'll give you my rations for a week!" Orange's voice cracked on the last word of every sentence.

"I'll give you mine for a _month_ …" Blue said under his breath.

The room was extremely dimly lit, and hard to navigate. A hallway branched off of the room and Orange and Blue didn't have any better options, so they continued down the hall. They could hear each other's pained breathing, each puff of air smelling of death… Disease… Absence of life.

Their faint footsteps echoed throughout the maze. Turns and twists in every which way appeared at every corner.

"I highly doubt that this is a test chamber…" Orange whimpered.

The hallway started to widen until it became about the size of a room. The hallway ended abruptly, and the walls were adorned with the remnants of broken crushers, panels, and stairs. The floor was stained with a brown residue from toxic goo and blood. Splintered portal guns lay scattered across the floor. Shattered cups and disfigured, used food cans sat in various places around the room.

Companion cubes lay everywhere, empty, the top ajar, waiting to be filled with whatever the "weight" was in the "weighted companion cube."

P-body gripped Atlas's hand subconsciously. Both of their eyes widened. This was where the smell was coming from. And it wasn't only the nose that was horrified, it wasn't easy on the eyes either.

~Thanks to my best friend, Atlas!~ ( atlasblue)


	2. Chapter 2

Chap. 2

P-body and Atlas stared in horror at the lifeless beings in front of them, their eyes as big as tennis balls.

P-body's hand gripped tighter, and Atlas winced, partly out of pain, partly of of shock. They scooted closer to each other, terrified of what they saw, even though they knew the bodies hadn't moved in years and years. The only sound in the room was the unsteady breathing of them both, echoing across the stained, cracked walls.

Blue dared to speak first. "What horrible thing has happened here?" He said quietly, barely moving his frozen lips.

"You know what happened here," P-body growled coldly. "You know."

"But who are these?" Blue asked. But knew the answer to that too.

"You know that as well."

"These…" Atlas tried to gulp his fears down. "Are - at least _were_ \- test subjects. GLaDOS's _human_ test subjects… all… gone… dead…"

Their eyes started to water, not because of the sight, but the smell. It was a mix of blood, rotting flesh, and acid all in one.

Suddenly, they saw something scurry in the back of the room.

"What was that?!"

"Um…" she looked worriedly towards Blue. "Probably just rats or something. Don't worry," she said trying to reassure them both, "We should go."

But they both knew the door had closed. They both knew that it definitely was not a rat they had heard. They both knew they were stuck in a dark room full of bodies with something much larger than them running around.

They heard something scuttle behind them. "Let's g-,"Atlas started. He paused, hearing soft footsteps.

"Run…" He said quietly, taking off. Suddenly, they both stopped, squirming, trying to free themselves; something had grabbed them by their necks with huge, cold, clammy hands.

GLaDOS was pacing back and forth.

Those two cyborgs. Were trapped in… _that_ room… All that hard work to make them was, basically gone now, all because of that stupid door. And her.

She continued to try and have her voice be heard over the loudspeaker in that room. She kept on slamming her hand on the open button. Nothing worked.

"Uuughh! I. Am. Such. An. Idiot!" She groaned, slamming her head on the hard surface of the table.

She turned to face sideways, and noticed the override button next to her head. It was gleaming red. The words _OVERRIDE_ covered half of the button in a color as dark and mysterious as the night sky. A protective cover lay over it, and the harder she stared at the button, the harder her own vile reflection stared right back at her.

She regretted what she thought earlier, about wanting them dead rather than knowing about the secret and spilling it. _Who could they tell anyways?_ She thought to herself.

"Im _disgusting._ " She snarled, "Sorry, guys… It's for the best…"

She slowly peeled open the cover, and placed a shaking finger on the button. A single drop of sweat dripped off her brow.

An automated announcer's voice rang out. "Facility- Aperture Science Computer Aided Cooperative Testing Initiative Chambers: State: Active."

GLaDOS pressed it.

"State: Inactive. All Aperture Science Computer Aided Cooperative Testing Initiative Chambers are now disfunctional. Please close monitors manually." The announcer's voice simply stated.

She sighed and pushed herself up and out of her chair. Now… All she would have to do is turn off all the cameras in the courses. It seemed easy enough. She walked down some stairs and through a hallway. _I know all the camera positions._ She walked down some more stairs and placed her hand on a scanner. A door opened. Her breathing became labored. _Maybe I can pry open the door by force?_ GLaDOS thought in an attempt to reassure herself. She slipped through the door and into a dysfunctional suction tube. _Yes. I will do that. And I will find them MYSELF._ She started to crawl down it. Finally, she plopped down on a flat surface. _Then we can test again. And I'll try not to make any mistakes..._ She ran towards a bonus course she had created just for them. She stood on a button, and pressed the other one with her hand, getting sucked up in the tube, bonking her head on the way up. ... _Again…_

Atlas and P-body pried at the hands holding them.

"Let! Us! Go!" Atlas yelled, trying to take a blow at whoever was behind them. His fist came in contact with something hard, then he heard the sound of metal scraping against cement. Seconds later he groped around, but found nothing except thin air.

Whoever it was behind them only tightened their grip, and P-body let out a cough. "Ack! Ugh, just please!" She begged.

"Shush!" The voice was a gust of wind blowing through the trees, silent as a mouse, loud as a firework. The voice was that wind when you forget your umbrella, standing out in the rain, wetness dripping down your back. The voice was the wind as it becomes a roar blowing in from everywhere which way, sending your clothes billowing in its breadth, attacking every part of your body, along with everything you're holding. It was low and harsh, rasping, but in the clearest way possible. It spoke as slowly as Winter storms come and go. Choosing his wording with precision, "I haven't heard anyone's voice in a looong time… But when I do, it's annoyed, scared, angry. You finally found some more life in this wretched place. Why can't you give me some gratitude." He picked the two cyborgs off the ground, turned them to face him, and then loosened his grip on their windpipes.

He was pale as a vampire, for he had been sitting in the darkness for years on end. He was gruff, scabby, and old. He was a human, but had strange wires protruding from his head and neck. His face held a yellow sort of parlor, and his hair and eyebrows were overgrown. He had he had a strange glow to his eyes, and, quite literally, he was, glowing. He stood at seven feet flat, but his knotted hair and heeled boots added a couple of inches.

P-body gazed up at him. She flinched; the man was not a pretty sight. "We didn't mean to upset you mister… mister… um…"

He threw them to the floor, scratching their faces along the cold, rough ground. "Don't say that. My name is not important. You shall just call me whatever you like. As long as you are prepared for what's coming for you." He frowned, then growled. In one fluid movement he picked up P-body by her collar, pulled out a dagger from his torn and stained lab suit, and held it inches from her neck. She emitted a small whimper-like gasp.

"Don't hurt her!" Atlas cried softly. The man sneered at him. He threw the dagger next to Atlas. Atlas flinched and curled up slightly, but coming to his senses, scrambled to grasp the dagger. It felt warm in his hand, and a mixture of dried blood and fresh sweat gave it an odor that almost matched that of the room.

The man just scowled at Atlas as though he were a child with nothing but a mere blow-up sword to defend himself. He straightened his clothing and, as though Atlas stealing his dagger was all part of the plan, swiftly pulled out a gun. "I'm not going to kill you. You are not going to die because of me. But be warned: Do anything wrong. And you'll come very close." He smiled grimly and pointed his new weapon at them. "You are going to get me out of here. I didn't expect GLaDOS to start testing wimps like you... But, with any luck, you'll know the way out." the man sneered.

"Yeah!" Blue said, trying to laugh. "You don't want us! We're no good!" He dragged Orange away from the man. "So… We're just going to go."

The man punched him in the stomach, "Not so fast."

Atlas doubled over, and P-body gasped. Atlas tried to smile. "He's strong for an old man…"

"Listen to me: The only reason I want to use you two weaklings is because YOU know the facility! YOU can get us out!" There was almost a hint of hope in his voice, almost determination. Almost…. A weakness. But no. It couldn't be.

P-body reluctantly walked away from Atlas and back to the man. "Why do you think that we know the _entire_ Aperture facility map?" She looked at him with huge eyes. "If anyone did, it would be GLaDOS! Just please let us go?"

"You expect me to believe that?! You've been androids under GLaDOS's command, OF COURSE YOU KNOW THE FACILITIES!" He yelled, keeping the gun's barrel level to Blue and Orange's faces, all the time encircling them like a vulture, stalking his prey, "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR ELEVEN YEARS! ELEVEN YEARS FOR TEST SUBJECTS TO COME! TO RESCUE ME! Eleven years."

P-body buried her face in her hands, part from fear, part from pity, and the rest from exasperation. "We're just… Modified, but... Ordinary test subjects… We don't know anything! PLEASE! Let us go!" She sobbed into her palms.

He growled again, not believing a word. "Why do you two have antenna?!"

"Mr…? Whatever your name is!" She shrieked, tears streaming down her face.

"AGH!" He screamed back at her. "JUST CALL ME LUCIFER!"

P-body's spirits lifted a little, she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, "That's your name?"

"Lucifer Leo." He said, unwillingly, rolling his eyes.

P-body took a step back and giggled a little, "Can I call you Lucy?"

He bellowed again. He tried to pounce back on her, but was held back. A chain was attached to his skin on his right ankle. It pulled as the stepped forward cutting a gash into his pale skin. He howled in pain and dropped to his knees. He let the chain tug him back.

P-body flinched and took the moment of his vulnerability to talk. She was feeling a little braver. She bent over his head, "Okay, _Lucifer_. Get this. We are not coming with you. If you need anyone to find the way out, you need GLaDOS. Not us. It's not like we were programmed with the map in our heads."

The wires connected on Lucifer's neck and head sparked. He shuddered, only for a second. A red glow was emitted from his pupils, he rolled his head around on his shoulders then began, "She's sending me action…" He said with a smile that revealed his yellow teeth, "Yes…"

"Who, GLaDOS?" Atlas asked finally, getting up. "Why should she…"

"It's not her." P-body realized. "It's an it! GLaDOS must have overridden the co-op course and left it to manually deactivate all watch systems… She isn't in control, it's her servers! Now her control center servers are in complete control of the co-op facility! It has no mind, it can't make decisions, it doesn't do anything… We're going to be stuck in here forever."

She pretty much had super hearing. And 'super-all' senses for that matter.

She heard voices, but she couldn't make out the words. It sounded like someone was saying her name, mixed with a bunch of muttering…

"Mumble mumble mumble mumble..."

"Mumble Mumble GLaDOS mumble -

"No it's not mumble motherboard mumble mumble!"

GLaDOS exhaled and disabled another camera, flipping each switch and entering the code. The process was gave off a repetitive vibe, much like the one that testing gave off. She was programmed to test, but she found some days she just… Didn't want to. She let out a long and low sigh… Placing her hand on the cold surface of the wall, she thought about P-Body and Atlas. Orange and Blue. She knew the actual room was right behind that wall. The room they were in. After all, she knew the entire map of the facility by memory.

"They're going to go mad in there eventually," she said to herself. She heard a soft thud from the room and winced, tugging her hair into a high ponytail.

She edged along the room, disabling cameras along the way, until she arrived at the door. She wedged her fingers in the gap, and pulled at the door. It moved slightly, not even enough to fit a mouse, but other than that, didn't budge.

Tactic number two.

She screamed as loud as she could down the hallway, "COME BACK!"

Nothing happened.

"No." She ran back past the bonus course, past the tube, past the pipes. The scanner, the door, it all whizzed past her. And she thought: _Why do I feel the need to even try at all?_

The lights in the room dimmed even more to match the night and day cycle. They all tried to stay awake, but to no prevail. As each of their minds drifted into darkness, only one had a dream.

' _It was really dark,' He thought. He felt a stabbing pain at - well, everywhere. He couldn't think properly. A voice rang._

" _GLaDOS?" he asked softly._

" _They left you." She said. "_ She _left you."_

 _GLaDOS never said any names, but he knew who it was. "She killed you and left."_

" _I'm dead?" He asked, without hesitation. His voice was calm and uncaring about the subject._

" _Almost," Replied GLaDOS in a voice exactly same. "Close enough to it that we can assume what will happen next."_

 _He nodded. "Don't worry. I'm ready." He talked about this as if going on a mission._

 _There was a splintering pain in his stomach area._

 _Then… it was all over._

Atlas groaned. P-body was bent over him, tears in her eyes. "Come on… I know you can make it… we have to get out of here!"

Atlas's eyes flew open. It was all a dream. But it still hurt. He curled in pain. "Ah!" His hand flew to his stomach automatically, and his muscles clenched, and maybe if he hoped enough, it'll all stop… now…

P-body put a hand on his shoulder. "We need to figure out how to get out of here."

Atlas pushed her hand away. "What happened?"

P-body's face became a riverbed, and her tears the river. "I don't know!" She looked at the new addition Atlas was adding to the collection of bloodstains on the floor, and closed her eyes, sickened. "I was asleep… and… I heard footsteps and I thought it was a dream and I didn't do anything to stop it it was all my fault!" She said quickly.

"Where's Lucy?" Atlas asked, trying to get her to laugh. It didn't work. "Lucifer Leo…" she growled, tears still streaming out of her eyes. "I _know_ that he did this to you… it was him. He gone. He's a shapeshifter."

"That's crazy, that can't be true. Shapeshifters don't exist. Did you even see it?"

"Well… no, but-"

Atlas sat up a little more. "You can't prove it." There was a sharp gasp, and Atlas winced.

"What else could have happened?"

"A lot of things…" he started. But he didn't have the effort to argue.

P-body helped him stand and cobble over to the doorway, but he ripped his arm away.

P-body saw that he could stand, but… he seemed so crippled, fragile. But he could be strong, and P-body knew it.

"Maybe yelling would work," she said sarcastically. But then her eyes lit up. "If GLaDOS is out there, she'll hear us!"

She ran through the no longer endless maze, and Atlas limped behind.

GLaDOS was back in the control center. She couldn't take it. She hated the feeling that she was in a blackout. If they were to die in there, at least she could create more robots. She was never going to build another cyborg again. Maybe. She turned to the transmit code, and switched the facilities back on.

"State: Active."

Atlas and P-body heard it- the electronic whirring of the facilities. It was back up. P-body beat on the door, shouting.

A faint noise reached GLaDOS's ears. She listened hard; she had learned not to ignore small warnings like this. She zoomed in a camera from where she thought the noise was coming from.

The door was slightly shaking, and voices came from the other side. "They're alive?" She said. _But there was nothing that could kill, them… Right?_

"This is the last time…" She whispered quietly. She shoved down on the button with her fist with the force of something jumping on it. The door gave in, and moved two feet. Just enough to squeeze out.

She was watching the team squeeze out of the door, when she heard breathing behind her.

She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

~Thanks to my best friend, Atlas 3~ (Atlasblue)


	3. Chapter 3

Chap. 3

GLaDOS stared at the now ajar door for a few moments before turning around slowly. "Hello, Leo." She smiled, as if she was greeting an old friend. "I see you've gotten an upgrade?" She asked, tilting her head innocently.

Lucifer only frowned. "How did you know that it was me?"

GLaDOS straightened her head, and glowered down at him. "And I see you're… alive. Am I mistaken? So what do _you_ want?" She looked at his feet and noted that the chain was missing.

Lucifer advanced on her. She wasn't shaken. He grabbed her arm. "You know what I want."

GLaDOS narrowed her eyes. She lifted her other arm, activated the shocker device in her glove, and pushed him back on his forehead. She watched him stagger back, shaking a bit. She imagined the electricity coursing through him. It was so powerful she almost thought she saw a few sparks here and there. Until she realized that she could. But it wasn't just at random odds and ends that the energy now sparked from. Leo was as bright as fireworks on the Fourth of July.

Lucifer stood still for a second, not wanting to set off GLaDOS's reflexes, reflexes that wanted to murder everything on their path.

GLaDOS ran through her old voice files. "Have you ever wondered what you'd be when you grow older?" She read. "Well, here it is. Dead," she scowled at him. "Remember that one?"

She reached out at him, slightly touching the wires. He pulled back. "Don't. You. Dare." He jumped away. GLaDOS turned her back to him, hiding a smile. "Fine. I'll let my… Killing machines do the work."

"WAIT! GLaDOS. Look. I… I-"

"Save it for the grave!"

As if perfectly on cue, three winged creatures flew into the room. They were covered in shiny, black feathers, and weren't afraid to show off their sharp beaks. They were about the size of half a baseball bat.

They landed on GLaDOS's shoulders and outstretched arms. She flinched a bit, their sharp claws digging into her skin. She had gotten used to these birds, raising them, almost like they were her children. "These… Creatures, for lack of other words, are called 'Crows'. Their scientific name is 'Corvus'. They are my little killing machines." She lightly stroked the head of one of them. It didn't enjoy it, but tolerated it and crowed loudly, as if it was trying to be as intimidating as it's master. "But, I highly doubt you would call them 'little." She chuckled.

"I. Don't. Mean. ANY. Harm." Lucifer lied as he backed away. The scene was almost hysterical, and he knew that while the birds probably couldn't hurt him too bad, he knew GLaDOS could. He dug his hand into the folds of his grimy lab coat. He felt the barrel of the gun. While he silently debated with himself whether he should kill GLaDOS or the birds, one cyborg walked into the room.

GLaDOS's eyes widened.

"What… What's going on?!" P-body demanded.

Atlas limped in a couple seconds later. He looked from GLaDOS, to the birds, to Lucifer, to P-body. He gasped, then clutched his stomach from the pain.

P-body hurried to his side, supporting his weight.

"Please!" She sobbed, hugging Atlas close. "I- we need to get him to a repair center… or… it's all over…"

"I'm _busy_ ," GLaDOS said, too harshly, dodging a swift blow from Lucifer. "Can… can he wait?"

Atlas smiled feebly, nodding slightly. "I'm fine, don't you worry about me."

P-body, not believing that Atlas was going to be perfectly fine, skipped the arguing and nodded.

GLaDOS turned back to Lucifer. "Give up. Or I'll call in the turret defenses."

Lucifer didn't want to die. At least not yet. GLaDOS had turned around to activate the turrets. Now was his chance.

He ran up silently, giving her a hard hit to her head. She recoiled, and took her hand away from the button, onto the back of her head, grimacing. Then, swiftly, Lucifer ran back, right out of the room.

She let him escape. "Mmmgh…" she groaned. "I thought… they were all gone…" She took her hand off of her head. "But he's still alive. I only have one more to kill. One left to go," she snarled.

"GLaDOS?" P-body whispered, her mouth dry as a bone. "We need to go!" She said, louder.

GLaDOS looked back up, not quite knowing if what she said was said out loud. "Yes." She turned back to the control board and activated one of the turrets. "This is Kili. She'll take you there. With that maniac on the loose, it's not safe for me to leave the control room."

"Hello."

"Okay." P-body stood up and helped Atlas with her. He smiled.

"Eugh, get up lovebirds," Kili snorted. "And 'leggo."

The small turret carelessly skipped out of the room, Orange and Blue following behind her.

They went through multiple tunnels, secret entrances, places that neither Blue nor Orange knew about. At a final stop, Kili reached her hand into a shelf on the wall. "Might want this." Though the turret had closed her small hand around it, P-body caught a small glimpse of something shiny.

"Hey, uh…" P-body started. "What's- what's that?" she asked nervously.

"Something," Kili replied, shoving it into the same pocket as her gun was kept.

P-body's eyes grew, the realization hit her. This is a turret. Those might be- no. GLaDOS would never leave them with someone dangerous… Would she?

P-body pulled Atlas along with her, down a short hall. There were four rooms, each marked as a repair room.

"Which one?" P-body asked, uncertain that Kili would know the answer.

"Mommy said that it's this one," Kili said, pointing to room four.

"Mommy?" P-body asked. "Is that what you call GLaDOS?"

Kili nodded, pushing the door open. The door complained, yelling at the people that had pushed it open after all these years.

P-body lugged Atlas onto the tiny bed inside. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh as a scanner scanned him.

Kili opened the door again. "Maybe you shouldn't watch… it's kinda… um, stress inducing…"

P-body slid out of the doorway. "He'll be okay, right?"

"Probably…" The mumble came from the tiny turret, sliding down and sitting on the floor. She turned away from P-body and took out a laser knife and small chunk of metal. Orange watched her fumble with the two objects.

She turned away as well. She could hear scanner sounds, and laser sounds, and slight breathing notifying her that Atlas was still alive.

"I never thought of GLaDOS as my mother," P-body said.

"But, technically she is," the turret replied. "She built you too."

Nearly an hour passed, and Orange felt like she had been watching grass grow, the steady click of the second hand on-the-job clock, before Kili turned to P-body, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, lookit." P-body swiveled around to look at Kili.

Kili held up the piece of metal, but this time, it was a surprise, a little minifigure.

Kili laughed lightly, and placed the metal in P-body's hand. P-body looked at it closely, admiring the detail that could have only been achieved by the careful hand of a turret.

"Th-thank you!" P-body smiled.

Kili shoved her laser knife back into her pocket. "You know what it is, right? It's one of the earliest models of Blue, y'know, before Mommy made you two into cyborgs," Kili said proudly. Then she frowned again. "We should get back, before Mommy thinks that _we're_ dead, too. Heh… Sorry, he's… _probably_ not gonna die." Kili looked into the window of the room. "But… it might be… well, uh… a few days…"

"Whatever it takes, I guess." P-body got up.

Walking past all the strange exits and entrances, they finally returned to the control center where GLaDOS was pushing and prodding at panels along the wall, making sure each one was intact. "Don't wanna let him get here though the walls, heh," she said to herself, not noticing that anyone was there. Her hair was tangled, and her eyes had barely any glow in them.

"GLaDOS?" Kili asked. "Are you… okay?"

GLaDOS jumped, accidently kicked the wall, and then fell backwards, like a clown with giant shoes trying to walk a tightrope.

"Fine! I'm all fine."

"GLaDOS?" P-body asked, "How long has it been since you've been in sleep mode?"

"A while." GLaDOS crossed her arms. "But, I'm perfectly fine. Maybe my chip needs a reboot, but that takes seconds."

She walked out of the room. Kili and P-body watched awkwardly as she tripped over a wire. "Fine! I'm fine."

A few minutes later, she came back into the room, perfect and refreshed.

"Sorry about that. I was a little tired, that's all."

"Sooo…" P-body said. Her orange eyes shone with curiosity at GLaDOS's next words. "Will I get to run the regular testing courses?"

Even GLaDOS hadn't thought of that. "The regular courses?" Those were not good. Those were too easy, they were meant for humans. "Those… how about the bonus courses I made, the ones not involving portals? Remember those?"

"Those are _cooperative_ courses. Who would I do it with? _You_?" P-body asked sarcastically.

"It's my big chance!" A voice said, coming from a tube. It was coming closer.

"Oh?" P-body asked. "Who-wh…"

Someone fell out of the tube. A black hoodie and a mischievous smile that meant definitely _not_ cooperating, two, small, bent out of shape antenna, flickering eyes. Very. Very. Annoying voice.

"AGH! NOT YOU!"

"Defective here _volunteers_. If you have any questions, please ask them now."

"Just one. WHY HIM?!"

"Well, all the other working turrets are already stationed, and he actually wants to help." GLaDOS reached over and bent the antenna back straight.

"I CAN HEAR AGAIN! IT'S A MIRACLE!"

"Yeah, but he…" P-body swallowed the exasperation building up in her throat, trying to take control of her words. "Can't you pause testing for a few days? A-and what about Kili?" Kili shook her head violently.

"Sure I can pause testing," GLaDOS shrugged. "But can you?"

"Of course… I… can…" she said slowly. Was this a trap?

"Then it's all settled!" GLaDOS clapped her hands and turned around.

"Okay. I'm not testing. Easy."

She headed back, through the tangle of hallways towards the repair center. She put her hand on the door, thought for a moment, and pushed the door open. Atlas was sleeping, but must have been awake earlier, because he had cleaned up some of the room. He couldn't help it; whenever things were messy, it bothered him. She sighed and put the tiny ATLAS bot figure on the table next to him and headed back through the mess of hallways that even Atlas couldn't clean up.

The walked and walked until she found the chamber. This chamber wasn't a testing chamber, but more of like a bedroom. It was only for resting or sleeping, or when GLaDOS was busy and couldn't function the testing chambers.

Inside one of the little cubbies disguised as power outlets on the wall, held a small tablet, a little screen, and the only window she's ever found to the outside world.

As she ran through the pictures again, she saw what she always saw. But even though it was the same every time, it always danced with the same emotions. Awe, wonder, amazement.

Oceans, big blue masses of flowing water. And then there was the beaches; the warm sand, the waves. Jungles were home to many types of animals and were thick with trees and vines. Forests were also filled with trees, and were home to lots of birds. The plains were flat and wide and seemed like it went on forever. One of the photos presented a wheat field, not unlike the field outside of one of the gateways into the labs. Seeing all these places struck her with the same thought every time.

Aperture Science Labs were big, huge, colossal even. But Earth was bigger and her home was just a fraction of it.

Then she knew: she wanted to see it in person. But not alone.


End file.
